FBI Announces Fifth Annual Internet Safety Awards

FBI Honolulu
October 25, 2011

Special Agent Tom Simon(808) 566-4300

The FBI, in conjunction with the Hawaii State Department of Education, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and a host of private and not-for-profit organizations, is working to educate students about serious dangers lurking on the Internet. To further this effort, the partnership is once again sponsoring the fifth annual Internet Safety Awards (ISA), a video contest for Hawaii’s students. The ISA asks students to write, direct, and produce public service announcements that focus on three topics relevant to their online safety:

Cyber-bullying

Online piracy /plagiarism

Social networking precautions

How bad is the problem?

Over half of all adolescents have reported being bullied while online or via their cell phone

52 percent of teens admitted to some form of cheating involving the Internet

38 percent of teens said they copied text from websites and turned it in as their own work

One in 25 youth reported that they have received online sexual solicitation where the solicitor tried to make offline contact

This contest is quite unique in that private industry, law enforcement, and the students themselves have joined forces to combat these dangers. The contest is open to all elementary, middle, intermediate, and high school students attending an accredited public or private school in the state of Hawaii. Video submissions will be accepted until Thursday, March 1, 2012. The winners will be chosen by experts in the fields of online safety, video production, web design, and advertising and will be acknowledged on May 11, 2012 at a red carpet event complete with celebrity presenters, VIPs, and prizes.

Rules, applications, technical specifications for submissions, and other information regarding the contest can be found online at www.internetsafetyawards.org.